


just say hello

by teenagegiles



Category: Ghost (Sweden Band)
Genre: (but who’s surprised), Drunk Ghouls, Era IV, Gen, Small fight, Too much alcohol, fire is a dick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 12:07:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17161709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teenagegiles/pseuds/teenagegiles
Summary: Water is forced to attend a party, and your favorite fire ghouls help him through it with copious amounts of alcohol.





	just say hello

The ghoul’s dormitories weren’t impressive. The carpets were often worn with age and covered in questionable stains, the walls shedding their tan wallpaper at every corner. His was sparsely accommodated with only a bed, a variety of cooking supplies, a guitar, and some other objects. Yet, Water found himself wishing to be there more than anything.

After months of touring, the band had arrived back to the open arms of the clergy. There was a supply of alcohol other than the standard communion wine and a crowd of proud and encouraging sisters that the other ghouls felt rather welcomed by. However, Water couldn’t manage to feel the same. The unsteady sleep patterns and loud music had taken its toll on him, and by the end of the tour he was left with daily headaches and a case of the sniffles. His head felt like it was full of cotton, so densely packed that he thought the pressure might tear him apart at the seams. 

He voiced his concerns to Aether as they left the tour bus. “I think I should go back to my room. I don’t feel well enough to stay up tonight.” He mumbled, walking alongside the stronger ghoul. He couldn’t tell his expression under his mask, but it didn’t seem to matter anyway. The cardinal swept in with an answer before Aether could vocalize anything. 

“You must mingle, Water! They have been waiting eagerly for us to return, you mustn’t disappoint them,” Copia chimed, giving him a smile, seeming almost like an exemplar. Water swallowed and nodded, feeling his stomach drop far down into his gut. He was so, so far gone- if he wasn’t standing there, waiting for the cardinal to open the doors, he might’ve curled up and dropped asleep right there on the pavement.

The doors opened, and the warm glow of the lights inside immediately burrowed themselves behind his eyes, allowing for a dull ache to form on top of any previous pain. Usually, they would’ve been a comfort, but today it just hurt. 

Aether shot him a sympathetic smile and went off into the crowd to talk to someone far more important. He stared down to his shoes. He willed his feet forward into the ballroom, and he entered. 

Fire took a spot by his side, haphazardly slinging an arm around his shoulders. The shit-eating grin on his face made Water’s stomach turn. But he wasn’t surprised, fire ghouls were known to be the life of the party. He knew how disappointed the extroverted ghoul would be if he didn’t have fun, even if he doubted that they had the same definition of fun.

“Come on, honey, you’ll get through this,” he said encouragingly, pushing a drink into his hands. Fire’s voice wasn't genuine, but he took it anyway, not stopping to wonder how he got it so fast. Water would do anything to burn up the cotton in his head, so he brought it to his lips, let the sting hit his tongue, and swallowed it down. 

“Look alive,” Fire whispered into his ear, and as Water turned to follow his eyes, he found Sister Imperator walking their way.

He always found her deeply lined eyes frightening. She had scaled back on the eyeliner in her older age, but they were still penetrating, seeming to stare right through you. Even when they were wrinkled with a smile, as they were now, they could still force the strongest of ghouls into a submissive like state. Her grin was full of perfect white teeth that may have been scarier than his own fangs. “How are you boys doing? We’ve had an impressive season, don’t you think?”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Fire smiling and nodding, so he did the same. A pleasant smile. A slight nod. He begged the taller ghoul silently to talk to her for him, hold her off. He worried that if he opened his mouth he might be sick over Sister Imperator’s blouse. 

“Yes, it was quite the trip. Rather eventful… but fun, wouldn’t you say?” Fire replied, elbowing Water in his side. A little gasp escaped his lips, and he immediately built off of Fire’s words. 

“Yes, indeed.” He mumbled. Sister Imperator nodded, seemingly content with their answers. She spun on her her heels, walking away back into the crowd. 

Fire groaned, and Water worries that he had already done something wrong. This early into the night, and he was sure he had already managed to disappoint one of the most important people in the room. 

Fire didn’t chastise him as he expected though. He simply mumbled, “You're going to need a few more drinks if you plan on staying down here.” 

Water was going to groan, but he held it back- the alcohol had seemed to clear up his mind a little bit, and hopefully it would take some of the urge to pass out away. He doubted it, but of course, there was a possibility. It wasn’t like Fire was going to relent anyway. “It wasn’t my plan, but stupid Cardinal Copia…” he trailed off. 

“That attitude is exactly what’s going to get you in trouble today, and why you need another drink.” Fire said with a smirk, pulling him along. He simply stumbled along after him, steadying himself on the guitarist’s arm. He was dragged along to a table of various mind-fucking liquids- the clergy, surprisingly, was a little too cheap for anything else. They spent all their money on incense and stained glass- the windows here seemed to get broken every week. 

Swiss was hanging around the table, tapping his glass with his claw, seemingly overwhelmed by his choices. It was a little surprising, he was the most versatile drinker out of all of them. His train of thought seemed to be derailed by the two ghouls approaching, though. “Hey! Whatcha looking for?” He greeted, biggest damn smile in the room. 

“Only you and the remedy for Water’s brooding,” Fire answered, glancing over to the lanky little ghoul next to him and lightly flicking one of his pointed ears. Water would’ve kicked out his feet if he didnt feel like he was going to fall over too. “Our job is to supply him with drinks tonight, brother,” 

Swiss nodded, looking Water over and thinking for a minute before taking his glass, filling it with something else, and forcing it back between his hands. Sure, Water knew he was just bound to be their entertainment for the night, but he really felt like this might be the best option to get him through it. He took a drink and let it seep into him- it wasn’t a bad feeling, anyway. He could deal, he was sure. 

Water was a few drinks in before he truly started to feel horrible. He felt like the air around him had condensed, leaving him gasping with nearly every other breath. He couldn’t breath through his nose anyway. He stumbled as Fire grabbed his shoulders just a little bit too rough. He was sure he was being introduced to somebody, but he didn’t understand what Fire was saying, and he didn’t want to look up at the person. He didn’t want to see the teeth, or the eyes- he knew they were judging him, silently questioning his own smile. Every smile of his had to be forced. Fire shook his shoulders again, and laughed- he forced himself to laugh with him, strangled and unsteady, like an animal in pain. 

With every person, he faked a grin, encouraged by Fire’s subtle pokes. Swiss accompanied them, replacing his drink every time he ran out. Again, he wished more than anything that he could just go home and sleep, curl up in his old blankets and will his headache to go away. The drinks had only made his head spin more, adding the lovely side effect of nausea to his pain. 

Throwing up made him feel a little better the first time. Fire had fucked off for the moment, and he and Swiss stood over the sink. As Water desperately tried to spit the taste out of his mouth, Swiss helplessly rubbed his back, offering another drink to cover it up. Of course he took it, he was too far fucked to have a lesson to learn. He took a sip, and stumbled at first, but found himself delighted as his stomach calmed for the first time since he entered. It was temporary, but he didn’t know, pulling Swiss along to dance like fools. 

Swiss was a little surprised, but he was just happy to see the ghoul not on the verge of passing out for once. “Staying down here wasn’t so bad, right?”

Water laughed, shaking his head. “Not bad at all.” 

His movements were sloppy and breathless, he partially looked like a fish on water, but his smiles weren’t faked this time, at least. He didn’t mind the fact that he couldn’t seem to think at all. 

It was only minutes before the happiness was fading again, finding himself have to rely on Swiss more and more to keep himself even vaguely steady. Water forced his head into the crook of Swiss’s neck, just really, really hoping he didn’t fall over. Swiss messed with his hair- he felt kind of bad, but it would be considered rather rude to skip out on the party all together. He had convinced himself he was doing the best thing for Water. Water hadn’t disagreed so far, and look, here Fire was now, with another drink for him. 

“I’m sorry,” Water mumbled sluggishly into his shoulder, and Swiss cocked his head.

“What are you sorry for-” he started, and then he took it all back. Water coughed before throwing up for the second, and luckily, final time that night. Swiss pushed him off without a second thought, sighing real heavily. The front of his shirt was fucking soaked, and he was sure that he smelled disgusting. He groaned. Fire, arriving just in time to witness the whole scene, was laughing his fucking ass off. Swiss gave him the deadliest look ever.

“Stop fucking laughing, you piece of shit.” He growled. Fire continued, dramatically wiping away non-existent tears from the corners of his eyes. And Swiss was sent.

Usually Swiss wasn’t the one to start a fight. He was usually called in to finish a fight that Fire had started, rarely fighting against Fire. But with puke on his shirt, and the burn of alcohol still semi-fresh in his throat, all formalities were thrown out of the window. It was just a punch at first, sent straight for Fire’s mask, and soon Swiss had been thrown against the wall, blood dripping out from under his mask.

Water had dropped down to the floor, still desperately trying to steady his breathing. He saw the fight beginning, and he whimpered, but he couldn’t bring himself to pay attention. Instead he looked up to the complex patterns on the ceiling, and after a minute his eyesight had faded to black with only the sounds of gasps and growls as a backdrop.

Water woke up without a shirt and surrounded by somebody else’s sheets. He would’ve been worried if it weren’t for the voice drifting around the room- immediately recognizable as Swiss. He was singing along to an english song he couldn’t quite identify, voice ethereal and awfully comforting. His voice had to be good, to sing backup in the band, but Water had never heard it by itself. It was always covered over by the vocals of Copia, or the guitars. He found him gently swaying as he sung, just like he did on stage. 

He tried to move, but his headache came slamming back, and an involuntary groan escaped him. He flopped back down onto his back, allowing him to just stare back into the ceiling. 

“Shit, did I wake you up?” Swiss turned on his heels, pulling out his earbuds. His mask was nowhere in sight, so he could actually see his face. He looked concerned, but he still had a little grin- fangs poking out and all. He reached out to mess with the blankets, and Water noticed that his hands were horribly torn up, knuckles cut up and blood crusted around them. Without a single bandage. 

Water shook his head, nodding to his hands instead. “What happened?” He asked weakly. 

Swiss didn’t answer him, just shaking his head and getting back up. He handed him some pills, and set a glass of water by his bed. “Aether told me to call him when you woke up. He’ll be up in a minute.” 

Water was a little annoyed that he didn’t answer, but was grateful for the Ibuprofen. He sat up, with some struggle, palmed the pills down his throat and swallowed hard. He quietly washed it down with the water he’d been given. He could hear Swiss calling Aether down, a twinge of guilt in his voice. Although, Water didn’t understand why Swiss would be guilty… Truth was though, that Water didn’t remember most of last night at all. 

Aether came up within minutes, knocking on the door. Fuck, even the light raps on the door made his head spin. Swiss let him in, whispered something Water couldn’t understand, and Aether made his way over to him with the same sympathetic smile he pulled at the beginning of the night. 

Fire had come too, closing the door behind them both and casting an eye over to Swiss. Water noticed he was hurt too, a dark black eye forming. Swiss didn’t bother to stay in the room, avoiding the fire ghoul. Aether was too worried about Water to notice any tension. 

“How’s the headache?” Aether asked softly, summoning his powers. His healing was extremely admirable, even if it was mostly used for hangovers and Fire’s fights. 

“Bad,” Water muttered out in response, watching him as he reached out to help. He had only experienced it once before, when one of the ghoulettes decked him for a reason he still didn’t quite understand. The first touch brought splitting pain, and Water yelped, but after a bit it had calmed into a comforting warmth. It was amazing, how fast he worked. His headache had been reduced to a dull point, something that he could easily ignore. “Thank you.” 

Aether just nodded, backing off to give him his space and talk with Swiss. Fire swooped in to mess with him instead. It was wild, even with the deepest black eye he’d ever seen the ghoul still managed to smirk. “How’d your encounter with Swiss go, huh, honey?” He purred. 

Water looked so genuinely confused. Fuck, was that why he was here? A part of him panicked- he didn’t like Swiss like that, he would have to let him down, apologize for staying over all night. Fire must have noticed. 

“Awe, he’ll tell you.” Fire purred, getting up as Aether came back from talking with Swiss. He left with him, sending a wink in the confused little water ghoul’s direction. 

Water sat there, troubled, for a minute. He had never quite gone through this before- sure, he’d had… experiences, but he remembered all of them. There must be a manual for this or something. Water wrecked his brain for possible options, coming up empty. “Swiss?” He called out, playing with his hands.

Swiss peaked around the corner. “Did- did we do anything?” Water asked honestly, in the least awkward way he could muster. 

Swiss’s face turned to confusion, and Water worried he had offended him. Did it mean more to him? Was he mad that he didn’t remember? Water immediately started stumbling over his words. “I-it’s just, Fire said something and I’m really sorry, I just don’t remember anything…” He whimpered out. 

His worry was a little relieved when Swiss just laughed, shaking his head. He went back over to him, hands still cracked- he must have hidden them from Aether. “Unless he meant you puking on me… then no.” He said, grinning. 

Water went pale. It wasn’t much better than what he thought. He still felt horrible. “Fuck, I‘m so sorry… I was just, really, dumb drunk…” he mumbled, as if it wasn’t obvious from the hangover he woke up with. 

Swiss just shrugged, sitting down on the bed next to him and leaning back. He was known for being easy going, and it really showed this morning. “That’s why you don’t have a shirt. None of mine would fit you, and I didn’t wanna bother Fire…” He’d leave his and Fire’s fight out, he decided. His own shirt had been covered in both puke and blood, and now was in the wash. 

“Thank you for bringing me up.” Water just said, glancing over to him sheepishly. 

A smile still showed on Swiss’s face. He really didn’t seem to care. “No problem. Aether helped, anyway.” 

Water nodded, grateful, even if he was left wondering.

**Author's Note:**

> this is based off a cure song, open. it’s very messy and so not edited but whatever, hope u like it. 
> 
> ps. the song Swiss is singing is save a prayer by duran duran >:)


End file.
